DonoSlane Excursions - Revenge with Style
by csThor
Summary: Bullying and harassment are all too familiar to many people, not just in the GFFA. But sometimes the tables get turned and then it's payback time. Especially so when the child of Myn and Kirney is being bullied. (set two weeks after "Coming Clean").
1. Chapter 1

**DonoSlane Excursions – Revenge with Style**

 **Dramatis Personae:  
**  
Kirney Slane Donos (human female from Coruscant)  
Myn Donos (human male from Corellia)  
Alina Donos (human female from Corellia – OC – their daughter)  
Selan Donos jr. (human male from Corellia – OC – their son) **  
**Selan Donos sr. (human male from Corellia – OC – Myn's father)  
Jaleela Donos (human female from Corellia – OC – Myn's mother)

 **Timeframe:** ~ 32 ABY **-** two weeks after _"Coming Clean"_  
 **World:** Legends (possibly AU)

 **Author's Note:** This story deals with a topic all too many of us are all too familiar with - harassment/bullying. But sometimes the tables get turned … *evilgrin*

* * *

 **Coronet City – Tekahel District  
House of the Donos Family  
7:35 p.m. Corellian Time**

Kirney was sitting on the couch next to her father-in-law, the two of them watching the simulcast of the galactic smashball quarterfinal match between the teams of Mirial and Ord Mantell.

Selan looked faintly irritated when the players in yellow ignored an obvious opening in the defensive line of their opponents and opted for passing the ball among themselves. "And these idiots beat the _Chieftains_ to advance to the quarterfinals?"

That drew a smirk. "I told you they are totally dependent on Marvus as a center," she retorted. "With him out due to his three match ban their offensive play has lost any semblance of structure."

He glared. "You do know that analytical streak of yours is pretty annoying at times, don't you?"

Kirney grinned. "I know." Right then the front door was smashed open and then slammed shut again. She exchanged a glance with Selan and arched an eyebrow.

"I'm going to ream her a new one," the unmistakable growl of her daughter Alina drifted over from the anteroom. "That _bicce_ is so dead. When I'm through with her she's going to wish her parents had decided to abort her sorry existence before she was even born."

Selan senior winced. "Looks like someone has _displeased_ that granddaughter of mine."

"Displeased is not the term I'd have used," she disagreed and heaved a sigh. "Alina," she called out loud, "come to the living room, please."

A few seconds later 17-year-old Alina Donos marched into the room dressed in her habitual black pants and the dark motto shirt of her favorite Heavy Isotope band, her black hair tied back into a ponytail except for the single swaying curl she had dyed blue, her eyes full of barely suppressed fury. The effect was truly frightening, especially when she barked, "What?"

Kirney didn't even flinch. "What is it this time?"

Her daughter sighed - even though that sounded more like the warning hiss of a poisonous reptile - and flung herself into a nearby armchair. "You remember that stupid _ex-_ boyfriend of mine?"

Selan groaned. "Don't tell me that idiot wants you back!"

Alina glared at her grandfather. "I'd rather dunk myself into a barrel of boiling shrimp oil than letting that _Slizhak_ get anywhere near me again, thank you very milking much." She shook her head, disgust obvious on her face. "No, he doesn't want me back. He and his friends have gone out of their way to rub the split in my face. I thought he was pissed that I got over him so quickly, but today I found out that he's being manipulated by that new girlfriend of his."

Kirney frowned. "Huh? I can't follow you here."

" _Denellia Picus_ ," Alina spat, "the epitome of a shallow, self-centered and brain-dead dumb cheerleader blond if there ever was one. Turns out that vacuum-sucking _bicce_ decided to make me her personal enemy and stole my ex only to hurt me!"

Her grandfather frowned. "What kind of sorry creature is that one? And why did she choose you as her personal foe?"

"I have no idea," Alina huffed. "Maybe because I don't adore her like so many of the other stupid girls in my class just because she's Head Cheerleader for our smashball team." She rolled her eyes. "Or maybe because I don't engage in that brainless gibberish about _oh-so-cutesy_ holostars, fashion and the school's relationship rumor mill."

Kirney groaned, her face buried in her hands. "Tell me you're joking."

Alina snorted. "Unfortunately not."

"How did you find out?" her grandfather asked.

Another snort. "I overheard some other girls talking in the women's refresher. They had no idea I was there, so they were quite generous with providing details I really didn't want to know."

Selan arched an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Apparently this has been going for quite a while already," his granddaughter said with a sigh. "I know I'm not everybody's darling at school ..." She looked up, her gaze showing a shadow of pain. "But I never had any idea that some despise me just because I don't play their petty games."

Kirney regarded her daughter sympathetically. "Outsiders are often targets for sniping from within a group," she said gently. "And it doesn't matter what real or perceived difference there is, some people will form alliances simply by designating those without and turning their environment against them."

Alina looked at her curiously. "I never knew you were a shrink."

That drew a chuckle. "I'm not. But psychology was a big part of my Intelligence training." Her smile died. "And I've been that outsider ... because of what happened to my parents. I was the child of traitors and therefore an easy target."

"Oh."

Kirney waved her daughter's concerns away. "It's okay. I didn't let them get to me then, I won't now."

"Good philosophy," her father-in-law remarked, "but that is easier said than done, isn't it?"

Something in his voice gave Alina pause. "Do you speak from own experience, Grandpa?"

Selan shook his head. "Not directly. But when I was a cadet at the Corellian Armed Forces Academy a group of rich kids decided to bully a student because he came from a poor family and had earned his stay at the Academy through good marks and a scholarship. They kept harassing him for months until one morning they found him hanging from a noose in the communal lavatory."

Alina and her mother cringed both at that revelation. Selan senior, his eyes glassy and his gaze turned back to a distant past, didn't notice.

"After that the Academy initiated a very thorough investigation," he continued his tale. "The perpetrators were caught, publicly demoted and dishonorably discharged and the entire class, all of whom had known about the bullying but hadn't reported it, were set back for a year and banned from the next round of promotions that were due."

"You, too?" Kirney asked, but her father-in-law shook his head.

"No, I was a year behind them, but the Commander of the Academy had all classes assemble on the parade square and made clear that harassment and bullying would not be tolerated and those who knew about such practices without reporting them would be considered to be complicit in the act." He shook his head and his gaze returned to the here and now. "The entire affair caused quite a stir, some of the kids who drove that student to commit suicide were children of well-known and important families on Corellia, so the press did have a field day with this. As far as I remember one of them was even disowned by his family and cast out."

That drew a snort from Alina. "Served them right. I even think they got off lightly."

"Well, yes …" Kirney regarded her daughter curiously. "So what are you going to do about _your_ problem?"

"I don't know," Alina ground out and threw up her arms in exasperation. "Part of me wants to pummel that stupid _bicce_ until she stops squeaking, but …"

"… that would merely provide the ' _bicce'_ with just the kind of feedback she's seeking, wouldn't it?" her grandfather finished for her.

"You think so?" Alina's skepticism was etched on her features.

Her mother nodded. "He's right, you know? The more you react, the more you fight back the more they will think that their actions manage to get to you and hurt you. And that means they would simply go on playing their stupid little game with you."

The raven-haired girl let out a growl of frustration and buried her face in her palms. "What would you do in my place?"

Kirney smiled. "Normally I'd prescribe a tactic of complete and utter non-reaction. If you don't give them any feedback whatsoever they'll tire of their scheme." Her smile faded away. "With you, however …"

Alina looked up. "What? You don't think I could pull this off?"

Both her mother and her grandfather merely raised an eyebrow at her.

The hurt in Alina's voice was impossible to miss. "You don't think I have that kind of patience."

Kirney stood up and drew her daughter into an embrace. Alina leaned into it, trying to draw comfort from her mother who went on in what she hoped to be a soothing tone. "Honey, ask yourself if you could really avoid _any_ reaction whatsoever, day after day, week after week, month after month. Believe me when I say that they will up their provocations again and again, trying to get a rise out of you, trying to make you snap."

The girl looked up at her mother in astonishment. "Months?" she croaked.

Kirney nodded. "In my case they tried to get a rise out of me for almost a year, more than eleven months. Only then they gave up in frustration."

Alina groaned and buried her face in her mother's shoulder. "This is not what I wanted to hear."

Kirney laughed silently, stroking her distraught daughter's hair in a gesture of comfort. "I know it's not, but it's the truth. Such was my life for almost a year … And believe me: it was anything but easy. There were times when I was half a micron away from clawing out someone's eyes."

Her daughter sighed. "You're right. I couldn't keep this up for months."

"Alternative tactics." The two women looked at each other curiously, then turned to look at Selan senior who was still seated on the couch. And again his eyes were unfocused, as if he was lost in a memory, but this time he was scratching the small scar on his chin as he always did when he was engaged in heavy thinking. Suddenly his gaze cleared. "You know what demoralizes like nothing else? When your opponent is beating you in areas where you consider yourself so strong that you're virtually invulnerable."

Kirney raised a dubious eyebrow. "You think we should play their game? Harass them back?"

"No." Her father-in-law shook his head adamantly. "That's not what I was thinking of. For starters we shouldn't stoop so low as to descend to their level. That's beneath us. And secondly I think that wouldn't make anything better in this case. Remember – they have numbers, resources and networks on their side. We don't."

"So … " Alina frowned in obvious confusion. "So what exactly am I supposed to do? How can I _'beat them at their own game without playing it'_?" She shook her head. "That is a contradiction in itself."

"Not necessarily," her mother disagreed, the flicker in her eyes giving away that she was thinking heavily. "Not necessarily at all."

Selan was watching her curiously. "What do you have in mind?"

Looking at her daughter Kirney let a smirk appear on her face. "Honey, are those girls who are giving you a hard time as superficial and competitive as I remember those of my class when I was your age?"

Alina looked at her mother with undisguised suspicion. "What exactly are you getting at?"

The smirk on her mother's face became wider. "I was wondering if they were all competing for the title of _'Queen of the Ball',_ " she explained, gesturing at the calendar on the wall where the date of the annual End-of-the-Year School Ball was marked in red.

That drew a snort. "Sure they are. The head _bicce_ is favored to win it for the third time in a row." Suddenly Alina's eyes widened and she raised her hands in a defensive gesture. "No. No! Under no circumstances. Absolutely not!"

Her grandfather was casting confused looks at the two women in the room before finally demanding an explanation. "Care to tell me what exactly you two are talking about?"

"I will absolutely not participate in this ridiculous contest just to get back at Denellia. You hear me, Mom?"

"Keep your hair on, honey," Kirney responded with a chuckle. "I was not thinking about that." She shook her head. "I mean, if you were to do that you'd be playing their game, you'd compete with them. It would also provide the kind of feedback they are looking for, wouldn't it?"

Indignation was replaced by utter confusion as Alina's expression changed. "Then what _are_ you talking about?"

"Well, tell me if this makes sense to you. Imagine it's the evening of the annual end-of-the-year ball and all those girls taking part in the contest have invested considerable time and effort into preparing for that evening. You know – a dress, hairstyling, makeup." She looked at her daughter expectantly. When the girl nodded, incomprehension still etched on her features, she went on. "Now imagine that suddenly another young woman appears, a very pretty woman who doesn't participate in the contest but yet steals from the contestants what they desire most: the attention and admiration of all those present, especially of the boys. Can you guess what that would mean for such attention-addicts?"

Her daughter frowned. "I imagine they would … _Oh!_ " Her eyes widened again. "You mean …?"

Selan let out a chuckle as he caught what Kirney was hinting at. "They would turn green with envy, start pulling out their hair, scream in impotent rage … and that title would be meaningless. It would be a hollow victory."

"Exactly." Kirney's smile became malicious. "And if the _'head bicce'_ were to try and turn the opinion of the class against this young woman in an act of revenge she would simply reveal herself as the sore loser and manipulative witch that she is."

Alina nodded but didn't smile. Instead she moved to the window, threw her arms around herself and stared out at the city's skyline for a moment. When she turned back to look at her mother and grandfather insecurity was written across her face for all to see. "You think I could do that?" she asked in subdued tones.

Selan rose, put his hands on his granddaughter's shoulders and waited for her to meet his eyes. "You don't think you're a beautiful young woman?"

Her gaze dropped from his. "I don't know," she admitted quietly. "I don't think I could compete with Denellia."

That drew a chuckle and she looked up in surprise. "You may not be thinking that," Selan said quietly, "but I do see a very beautiful young woman here. And don't say that I'm biased, I know I am biased in your favor. You're my granddaughter, after all." He grinned at her and was heartened to see her smile. "Beauty, my child, is always in the eyes of the beholder. What one considers beautiful another may not and vice versa. Besides …"

Alina arched an eyebrow. "Besides what?"

He chuckled again. "You're like your grandmother in this respect. She also never liked to ' _doll up_ ' as she calls it. You know, that hairstyling and makeup marathon so many other women went through for every possible happening. She's a natural beauty and never tried to hide that under layers of makeup, mascara and lipstick." His smile turned wistful and his gaze turned glassy. "Except for this one day … our wedding day. There she went the whole distance of a hairstyling and makeup marathon and ever since I've known that I married one of those mythical angels supposedly living on the moons of Iego."

Gazing at her grandfather in wide-eyed surprise and awed by the reverence she could hear in his voice and see in his face Alina felt her smile widen. "Wow."

Selan's grin morphed into something mischievous. "So, yes – I am absolutely convinced that, if you really want to do this and we pull out all the stops, then you, my dear granddaughter, can and will blow all those male attendants out of their suits, socks and boots."

Feeling her cheeks redden Alina gave a sigh of mock resignation and hoped her grandfather wouldn't notice her momentary unease. "And what would _'pulling all the stops'_ entail?"

Her mother smirked at her. "Well, it's pretty simple. First we would have to get a dress for you. Not just any dress, mind you. No, I'm talking about _the_ dress."

"And we will find that where exactly?" the teen asked, her mind sifting through her shopping experiences in various Corellian malls.

"Not off the rack," her mother returned casually, tapping her chin as if she was contemplating possible sources. "I think we should seek some professional help for this. How do you feel about going to Crevon's on Coruscant?"

Alina's stomach flipped, crashed to the floor and bounced. Crevon's was one of the most exclusive fashion temples of the galaxy, its creations constantly on the covers of various holozines and the list of female holostars being regular customers was longer than the New Republic's Senate membership list. " _Mom_ ," she gasped. "Don't joke on this, please. We could never …"

Kirney held up a hand to interrupt her. "I was totally serious about that."

"We can't afford that."

"Don't worry about it. I've known some of their lead designers for years. Some of them still owe me a favor or two." She shrugged. "Besides, it's only money. The happiness of my child is invaluable."

Alina was beginning to feel lightheaded as events began to spin out of her control. "And what else?"

"That's easy – hairstyling and makeup. And again I'd say we should hire professionals for that."

Selan gave a snort of amusement. "Let me guess – you happen to know some of those and they also happen to owe you a favor or two. Right?"

"Of course." Kirney grinned at him before becoming somewhat serious again. "But there is one last item on that list and that is probably the most difficult one."

Her daughter felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck raise. "Why do I get the feeling that I should escape to my room right about now?"

Her mother chuckled at that. "It's nothing nefarious or embarrassing, don't worry. It's just that, to achieve the desired effect and outcome, you will have to adopt a certain behavior throughout the evening. I mean, it wouldn't do for your to stumble through the evening and turn scarlet at every admiring glance you receive from your male classmates, would it?"

"No, not really. So what exactly are you getting at, Mom?"

Kirney laughed, threw an arm around her daughter's shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Just a little bit of coaching. Don't worry, it's nothing too difficult and I'll show you what I mean. And we will start with something very simple … Unless you decide that's all over the top. I don't want to pressure you into anything, honey."

Alina remained contemplative for a few seconds, then she straightened and looked at her mother, her eyes blazing with newfound resolve. "That _bicce_ has had it coming for a long, long time and I do want to be the one to administer that lesson. What do we start with?"

"Walking in high heels," her mother answered with a smile of patently false innocence.

Alina blanched, Selan choked back a laugh and Kirney allowed herself a triumphant smirk.


	2. Chapter 2

**jaeveret**

 **With lots of Bacta patches and even more swearing. ;) :D**

* * *

A few days later Kirney was sitting in the kitchen going over expense reports of their employees. It was a chore, after all they had selected their pilots partially because of their reliability and honesty, but the law said they as employers were responsible for accurate reports to the tax authorities so there was no way around it. She took a sip of her fruit juice mixed with sparkling water when Jaleela came into the kitchen.

"The blisters on Alina's feet are healing fine," she said and moved to the kitchen counter to help herself to a glass of juice as well. "I put Bacta patches on them again, they should be gone tomorrow."

Her daughter-in-law gave her a wry smile. "Which doesn't mean she will stop throwing her choicest invective my way, does it?"

Jaleela laughed. "I remember lecturing Myn about the impropriety of swearing as a child and it worked. For some reason I don't think I would get anywhere with my granddaughter if I tried the same."

"You wouldn't," Kirney chortled. "We tried it and … well."

"All we can do is take it in stride," her mother-in-law replied with a smirk. "Although it is unnerving to hear her having a go at someone. She could curse the slime off a Hutt and make even a hard-boiled criminal turn scarlet from mortification. Where did she learn all those terms?"

"I suspect Kolot or Tonin. Alina hung onto Kolot so much when she was a small child and he is not one to censor his language even in the presence of children. And Tonin does have a snarky streak as wide as the Gordian Reach. I wouldn't put it past him, either."

"Figures," the older woman drawled and shook her head. "So, has it worked or will she have to wear those high heels further?"

Kirney nodded. "She will need to get used to them, to feel secure in them. I know she hates them, but without them our entire plan wouldn't work."

"I know," a new voice threw in from the corridor outside the kitchen. A moment later Alina hobbled into the room and sank into a chair, her face showing relief as she took her weight off her feet. "Doesn't mean I like these devices of torture."

"You think any woman really does?" her mother inquired wryly. "We know they're uncomfortable, but I can assure you that nothing drives up a man's heart rate faster than a beautiful woman sauntering past him in high heels."

One of her daughter's eyebrows arched towards the hairline. "And you happen to know this because … ?"

Kirney mimicked her daughter's expression, but hers was decidedly mischievous. "You _do_ know that neither you nor your brother were brought to us by _Storkh Deliveries_ , don't you?" she quipped, referring to the old joke that Corellia's largest parcel service had once run some ludicrous advertisements claiming to be able to deliver anything anywhere and on time … including babies.

Alina flushed crimson and her eyes widened in mortification. " _Mom_ ," she gasped before pressing her palms against her temples. " _Way_ too much information."

Both Kirney and Jaleela burst out laughing.

Alina glared at her mother and grandmother for a moment, then she pulled out a chair and put a thick cushion from the bench on top of it. Then she raised her sore feet and carefully lowered them one by one onto the cushion. "That's better," she sighed.

Her mother regarded her sympathetically. "I feel your pain, honey."

"Really?" Her daughter arched an eyebrow. "How did you get used to them?"

"Basic Intelligence training." Kirney's words brought about a stunned silence.

"What?" her mother-in-law croaked with surprise.

Kirney nodded. "Remember, as a deepcover agent I was supposed to be able to play any role assigned to me, be it low-level gang member, military officer, secretary or even nobility. If I was to pull off playing the latter role I had to be comfortable even on the most prestigious of events and that meant high heels, evening gowns and all that."

"And what else did that training entail?" her daughter asked as she put an elbow up on the table and rested her chin on her palm.

"Quite a lot," her mother returned evenly and took a sip of her sparkling juice. "Art appreciation, cultural education, literature … We were told we had to be proficient enough to strike up a conversation on those topics to blend into the crowd and not raise suspicions." A wry grin stole its way onto her face. "And, of course, dancing. We were extensively coached in pretty much all popular dances, classical and modern. My instructor was one of the dance choreographs of the Imperial Opera and while he was a tough taskmaster I must admit I remember that part of my training fondly. I did have fun, you know."

Alina was surprised. "I thought you hated your Intelligence training."

"Most of it. Some parts were okay and some were actually fun, even though they put us through repeated tests to see who was capable and who needed further tutelage."

"And what did these tests entail?" Jaleela asked curiously. This was something her daughter-in-law had never mentioned before.

Kirney's gaze became glassy as her inner eye turned back in time. "It depended on what was on the agenda at that time. For example after a number of art appreciation classes one or two of us would be ordered to visit a gallery opening or a new exposition in the Imperial Museum of Modern Arts under assumed identities. We were supposed to dress for the occasion, then make the kind of small talk that was common during such social events. Intelligence would send various tutors whom we did not know to these events to supervise and evaluate our performance."

"And dancing?"

"That, too." Kirney let out a quiet chuckle. "They sent us to all kinds of dancing events, including upper-class balls where we were supposed to play the role of arm candy for some dignitary or official and the regular balls of the Imperial Armed Forces Academy." Her smile turned sly all of a sudden. "But us girls liked the latter for something else."

Alina was fascinated by her mother's tale. "What would that be?"

"Why, experimenting with the contents of Imperial Intelligence Operatives Field Manual Triple Oh Nine Six Slash Oh Five Hundred Slash Four Seven One Besh," she responded and laughed at the quizzical stares she received in return. "That was also expected of us – we were supposed to be able to turn any male around our little finger through any means necessary."

Jaleela's cheeks showed a tinge of pink. "The Imps had a manual on how to seduce … ?"

"Of course. I'll have you know that they even had separate manuals for male and female trainees." She shook her head. "Of course we never went that far, our tutors actively discouraged it, you know. They didn't want emotional interference. But we liked turning heads and teasing young men. I mean, we were young ourselves."  
What she didn't say was that later on the trainees were factually ordered to experiment with their sexuality, both to remove the problem of virginity - which would be useful in just a handful of situations but a hindrance most of the time – and to give the trainees experiences no manual could provide. Their tutors had made clear that even during the act a deepcover agent had to be in total command of her senses and no classroom instruction could give the trainees enough experience to do this. Suppressing a shudder she went on to say, "But that was just a small part of it. Most of it dealt with practical questions of the kind of undercover roleplaying we were engaged in. For example one chapter dealt exclusively with questions of hairstyling and makeup for certain social gatherings in various social classes since we were expected to be able to do all of that on our own. Another chapter dealt with behavioral patterns and how to achieve a certain vibrancy."

Alina seemed to be flabbergasted by that revelation. "You can learn such things? I thought charisma was something one does or doesn't have."

"To a certain degree you can be trained to give out certain vibes," her mother explained. "But you have to have a base level of charisma or it wouldn't work. Which is why the Imps selected Intel trainees for their deepcover programs according to certain beauty standards. That gave us trainees a base level to work with."

"So how does this work?" Alina frowned. "I mean it's one thing to be told 'do this and that' but another to actually do it."

"It's a bunch of things that are connected to each other and an agent was supposed to consider all of those. Let's take the example of the upcoming ball. According to Imperial standards that would have been a middle class event so we would have been supposed to dress accordingly, do our makeup and hair according to what was considered normal in this social class. So it wouldn't do to wear a dress from Saberini or Celentes along with expensive jewelry while going to the ball of the Armed Forces Academy just as the opposite wouldn't do for an upper-class ball while pretending to be royalty. In that case anything below Saberini and real gemstone jewelry wouldn't be deemed acceptable or even realistic." She held out her hands, palms up, and moved both of them up and down in the widely understood gesture for weighing up something. "The physical appearance is already about three quarters of what creates a certain vibrancy. Do this right and you need only a little acting to pull it off. But if one aspect is off or insufficiently represented the entire scheme collapses in itself."

Jaleela was beginning to understand. "So you are saying that a certain physical appearance already goes a long way to making a certain impression on people. Did I get this right?"

Kirney nodded. "Correct. It's partially a psychological and biological predisposition that comes from our distant ancestors and partially a cultural bias shaped by our upbringing. Most people aren't even aware of it, but hit those psychological buttons through certain physical attributes and our brain automatically sorts what you see into a certain category and preloads attached expectations and preconceptions shaped by that cultural bias. If you style yourself a certain way most people seeing you will automatically assume you will behave a certain way, assume that you _are_ a certain type of person. Very few have the presence or the agility of mind not to fall into this psychological trap.  
"The manual I mentioned used three basic vibrancies female agents could go for when attending social events like a ball: innocent naivety, temptress or seductress and Empress." Gesturing with one hand she continued to explain, "All three categories contained different standards for dresscode, makeup and behavior. For example to achieve a look of innocent naivety would take a totally different approach than for example the temptress. You can and should be a lot more conservative with everything to pull off the former while the latter really relies on seductive clothing and a rather heavy makeup. And the Empress was the most difficult of them all to pull off successfully as it's a lot easier to learn and pretend to be a naive little girl or the sultry seductress. Regal bearing, a little aloofness without being perceived as arrogant or cold, is much more difficult to achieve. But do it right and you can really be an Empress even if just for one evening."

Her daughter buried her face in her hands and groaned, "Let me guess – I've got to pull off the Empress act for your plan to work."

"Of course," her mother retorted and smirked. "Unless you want to go for the temptress or seductress act and reduce the entire male part of your class to drooling heaps of testosterone-filled goo …"

Alina rolled her eyes. "… and either send Dad into cardiac arrest or have him being arrested because he shot all guys for daring to look at me."

"An amusing thought, I admit, but I agree that we should not try to find out which prediction would become true," Jaleela laughed, her eyes dancing with merriment.

Her granddaughter gave a huff of mock exasperation before turning her attention back to her mother. "So how am I supposed to learn this 'Empress act'?"

Kirney's eyes twinkled. "The same way I did back then. We start with me showing you excerpts from holomovies, pointing out what you should look for. Back then we had to find out all the pertinent details ourselves, but we don't have as much time. In fact …" She hit a button on her datapad to close the expense report she'd been studying and scrolled through the list of files on the device. Selecting a file she pushed the datapad towards her daughter. "I've taken the liberty to cut together a few scenes from different holos starring Lessina Werten. Go on, open it. It won't bite."

"Why her, specifically?"

Her mother shrugged. "She's only a few years older than you are so I figured you may be able to connect a bit easier than if I'd started with Javul Charn or Wynssa Starflare."

Alina nodded, seeing where her mother was coming from, and activated the recording. There was no sound, she knew her mother disliked the numerous information sounds datapads came with these days so she usually muted the device before using it, but there was no particular need for sounds in any case.  
The scene that appeared in the tiny screen showed an old-fashioned country cottage, abundantly covered with evergreen ivy of some sort, the roof made up of ancient reddish shingles, the walls chalk-white except for pieces of decorative brickwork that framed windows, doors and a large gate. An airtaxi pulled up and a young woman wearing light gray pants and an off-white tunic clutching a bulky tan backpack in her hands emerged from it.

"That is from _'Garden of Mirrors'_ ," her mother explained gently. "Look closely and tell me which category you'd put her in."

Alina was watching the scene for a few seconds, noted how the woman in the holo looked around nervously, tried to gauge her state of mind from her expression even though the tiny screen swallowed most details and finally made a decision. "I'd say that is the 'innocent naivety' vibe."

Kirney reached out and hit a button to freeze the holo. "Why do you think so?"

"Well," her daughter squinted her eyes at the frozen holo, "for starters her clothing. Then the absence of heavy makeup and her obvious nervousness when she was looking around."

Kirney smiled. "Good. Even lacking the details I could point out in a full-size holoprojection you guessed right. And that was precisely the intention of the director and the scriptwriter. You automatically associated her light clothes with innocence, because in most human cultures white or similar colors represent innocence and purity. The absence of heavy makeup merely reinforces that cultural bias, because we associate it with other types of women." Gesturing at the datapad she added, "Go on. The next scene is about to start."

Her daughter hit play and a few seconds later the scene changed. This time it was a bar, not a watering hole in the dregs of the galaxy but an upmarket one where the walls weren't adorned with blaster pockmarks and the tables not peppered with vibroblade cuts or sticky from dried booze. Lighting was subdued but not too dark, glow panels laid into the steps of a stairway gave out a gentle reddish light. A woman appeared at the top of said stairway dressed in a tiny red dress showing much cleavage, her raven hair arranged in intricate curls framing her face and dangling down her neck, and began to descend the stairs. A few men stepped aside to let her pass but the woman ignored them, her gaze apparently focused on the camera.

Alina paused the recording again. "Definitely temptress. That dress is a bit too low-cut to signify anything else."

Her mother chuckled. "True. That scene was taken from _'Dangerous Temptations'_ so the title alone is a dead giveaway. But there is more. First – the dress. Red is a color that signifies danger or excitement. Black would work just as well as it is usually associated with being a 'bad girl'. Second – have you noted how she moved down the stairs and how she kept her focus on the camera? Not once she did look down to check where she put her feet. That signifies superior self-confidence, another attribute associated with beautiful women playing the temptress."

"The contrast between the two scenes is stark," Alina admitted. "First we had this almost frightened little girl and now we have this man-eating vamp."

"And remember that both roles were played by the same woman."

"I guess the next scene shows what you call the 'Empress act'," Jaleela guessed sagely, having moved to stand behind her granddaughter to watch the recording over Alina's shoulder.

"Yes," Kirney confirmed. "I took the following scene from _'The Corellian Heist'_ where Werten played the role of an intelligence agent turned con artist. She's infiltrating a masked ball hosted by the governor who is her adversary while the rest of her team is trying to steal certain information from his computer system."

Her daughter unfroze the recording and hit another button to skip the rest of the current scene. The setting changed into one of those grandiosely decorated ball rooms with gilded stucco ornaments, oversized polished mirrors, chandeliers and an endless row of ancient painted portraits depicting long gone governors and rulers. Hundreds of elaborately dressed people were milling about, couples were twisting and turning to the tune of an inaudible music or engaging friends and rivals alike in small talk, champagne glasses in their hands.  
The tall doors on the far side of the ball room opened and admitted a slim woman dressed in a form-fitting green silk dress that covered her from neck to toe. The crowd of dancers parted as if by magic and even though she knew this was choreographed Alina could not suppress an admiring whistle. The actress sauntered almost casually across the polished marble floor, upright without being ramrod straight, regal without being arrogant, dignified without appearing to be aloof …

"It's almost … as if she's floating," Alina remarked. "Stunning."

Kirney reached out again to grab the datapad and shut down the holo. "Remember … that is all an act. All three scenes showed the very same woman." She patted her daughter's hand. "But that is enough for today. Rest your feet. We'll start tomorrow if that's okay with you."

Alina nodded enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling. "I'd love to try that myself."

"And you will." Kirney smiled. "The ball is in about three weeks so we've got more than enough time. I have faith in you, honey."


	3. Chapter 3

**Two weeks later**

"I can't believe I'm on Coruscant and about to visit Crevon's." Alina did sound a bit shell-shocked as the two of them were standing on the slideway which would take them to one of Coruscant's shopping districts. Turning to her mother she asked, "How do you happen to know their designers?"

Kirney chuckled and threw her arm around her daughter's shoulder. "Pure coincidence. Crevon's established their label at the same time when I moved to Corellia. A few months after your father came to visit me for the first time I had just finished a transport job to Coruscant and was looking for a contract to make some credits upon returning to Corellia. That's when I met Vervinia Crevon and two of her partners, Ayline DeVitt and Mesha Canteaux.  
"Their label had become this hot item in the fashion world in the preceding months and they were on their way to Corellia for the Fashion Week … only to find that they had been taken for a ride by the pilot they'd hired. After he'd pocketed their credits he'd taken off somewhere else and now they found themselves low on credits and without a way to get themselves and their new collection to Corellia."

"Let me guess: You helped them out," Alina guessed shrewdly. She knew her mother was a tough negotiator but also a big softie underneath.

Kirney nodded. "I felt sorry for them. They were obviously so inexperienced in the real world, the three of them were oozing _'clueless university graduate'_ out of every pore. I knew how tough establishing oneself in the business world could be and how many predators were looking for easy targets to fleece. So I offered to take them and their cargo to Coronet City in exchange for them paying for the fuel."

"That is all?"

She had to grin at the note of surprised disappointment in her daughter's voice. "No, it's not. You see, that Fashion Week was their final breakthrough. Before they had been an interesting startup but they really struck home with that new collection of theirs. All the big galactic fashion outlets offered them contracts, the financial numbers involved were multiplying like bacteria in a warm and damp environment throughout the show. In the end one of the big brands put a suitcase with five million credits in cash on the table just to get them to take up their offer." Shaking her head at the memory she went on, "I hadn't given them much thought beyond my offer to get them to Corellia, I was focused on establishing my shuttle business and did not have time for extravaganzas, so you can imagine my surprise when a few days later I received a message from them thanking me for the help along with ten thousand credits which had been transferred to my account."

"That was generous of them," Alina responded casually.

Her mother nodded. "That it was. It helped me immensely as I could finally invest credits into my ship and make modifications that I deemed necessary and helpful. But that wasn't the end of it. Mesha was so grateful for my help … You see, that label, designing clothes, that is her life's dream. That is what she's always wanted to do. She was so happy about their success, so enthusiastic about her future that she insisted on making one special dress for me free of charge. To be honest I didn't particularly care for fancy dresses at that point in my life, jumpsuits and practical stuff were a lot more suitable to the life I was living and dressing up was not on my agenda. But Mesha was so giddy about the whole affair I didn't have the heart to turn her down. So I showed up in the workshop they were using at that time, she took my measurements and I told her to surprise me."

"And did she?"

"Oh yes, she did." Kirney paused in thought. "It wasn't just any dress, it was _my_ dress. When I saw it for the first time, when I tried it on … I just knew it was _the_ dress for me. No other would ever come close." Her expression became sly again. "And your father did agree with me on that."

A look of puzzlement appeared on Alina's face. "Dad was with you at that time?"

"No, he wasn't," her mother answered and laughed. "But when he came to visit me on Corellia for the second time I decided to wear it when he took me out on a romantic dinner. When he saw me coming down the stairs in our house wearing that dress … I knew his mind was not on the food. And after I saw that look in his eyes I admit mine wasn't, either."

Her daughter's face turned bright red but she let out a huff of exasperation. "Will you stop mortifying me, Mom? There are things about you and Dad I simply don't need and don't want to know."

Kirney laughed again. "Okay, I'll take mercy on you, honey. As it is," she said and cast a glance at the towering skytower coming up, "we're there."

Upon passing the revolving door made of transparisteel they found themselves in an opulent entrance hall. A silver protocol droid with blue trim and the company sigil on its chestplate moved out from behind a counter that looked like a reception desk, sketched an old-fashioned bow and said, "Welcome to Crevon's Fashion Trends. I am See Nine Jay Dee. How can I be of service, Madam?"

"Kirney Slane Donos," she introduced herself before gesturing at Alina, "and my daughter Alina. We have an appointment with Mesha Canteaux."

The droid's optical sensors flickered for a split second, apparently he'd checked some sort of timetable, before gesturing flamboyantly at a set of lifts in the center of the building. "Mistress Canteaux has been notified of your arrival. Please follow me."

Together they rode up six floors in the transparisteel lift where the droid led them into a small waiting area furnished with comfortable armchairs and a settee.

"Mistress Canteaux will be with you in a moment. Do you care for some refreshments, Madam?" he asked.

Both women shook their heads. "Not at the moment, thank you," Kirney replied.

The droid sketched another bow, more theatrical than before. "As you wish, Madam. I'll take my leave of you now. Have a nice day and thank you for gracing Crevon's with your patronage." Then he turned around and left.

"What an odd droid," Alina remarked as soon as the lift doors had closed behind the mechanical being again.

Her mother chuckled. "Vervinia Crevon comes from an old imperial family which put enormous importance on all those old-fashioned expressions of courtesy and the traditional flowery language patterns of upper-class Coruscantis. So she decided to have her droid staff being programmed for those flamboyant gestures. It started as an inside joke but she quickly realized that many of her customers actually value this courtesy. So it's both – a private amusement and a measure to promote sales."

Alina's attempt at an answer was interrupted by the sound of another set of lift doors opening further down the corridor followed by footfalls on the malachite floor.

"Kirney," a woman called and Alina did a double take at the unusual sight that greeted her. The woman was of medium height, lithe and lissom, her skin glowing in a deep pink tinged with violet, her black hair flowing around her shoulders unbound by any distinguishable hairstyle and her face … Her face was of the kind usually seen on galactic supermodels or classical Alderaanian sculptures in their timeless perfection. Alina decided she had never seen such an unusual humanoid being. _Mom never told me her friend's a Zeltron._

Kirney was first to rise from her chair and moved to greet the other woman. Both enfolded each other in a friendly hug. "How are you, Mesha? It's been … What? … Eight years?"

"Which is not my fault, if you remember," the younger woman retorted with a chuckle as she withdrew from the embrace. "And thank you, I am good. Brilliant in fact. Life has been kind to me." Mesha let her gaze sweep across Kirney's ensemble of ankle boots, light tan pants, green tunic and her habitual red spacer's jacket. "Still at the height of fashion chic, I see."

Kirney grinned back but shrugged. "It's practical."

The Zeltron chuckled again and directed her attention to Alina for the first time. "You must be Alina," she said with a smile. "Your mother told me about you and how pretty you are but now that I see you I think she understated quite a lot."

Alina blushed. "Thank you."

"Now," Mesha said and gestured at the settee behind them, "take a seat and tell me what brings you here." She wreathed her features into a mischievous smirk which she directed at Kirney. "Your message was kind of short on those details."

"Well," Alina began before her mother could speak up but her fiddling with the hem of her tunic gave her nervousness away, "it's a bit of a convoluted story, but this is the gist of it."

For the next few minutes Alina told a condensed and somewhat sanitized version of the events of the past few weeks. She spoke of the breakup with her ex-boyfriend, how she'd come to be on the receiving end of the barbs he and his friends had flung at her, how she'd found out about having been declared enemy number one by the clique around Denellia and what she and her family had decided to do about it. Naturally she left out the pertinent parts of her family's history, the admonishments of her parents never to speak about those secrets with anyone but her closest family still ringing in her ears, and the amount and depth of coaching she'd received from her mother …

Kirney listened to her telling the tale, stealing glances at both her daughter and Mesha. Once, when Alina had described the day when she'd heard the other girls talk about her in the 'fresher, she had to smother a smile at the Zeltron's barely audible mumble ' _Vindictive bicce_ '. Once her daughter had finished telling her story she found Mesha giving her a look of sympathy.

"So, bottom line is you're looking for a dress for that ball, and not just any dress. Did I get this right?"

Alina nodded.

"Good. That girl's got it coming and deserves everything she's gonna get and then some." Mesha's face became a mask of determination. "Don't worry, I'll make the you dream of every boy that evening. Just watch me."

"Nothing too revealing, please," Kirney threw in with a chuckle. "I know your preferences, Mesha, but remember she's still a young woman and in school."

"Yeah," her daughter agreed with a sardonic smile. "That and I'd prefer not to lose my Dad to a heart attack or lifelong incarceration because he burned down all the guys for ogling me."

Mesha's musical laughter filled the room and dispelled the last remnants of gloom in the air. "I like her," she declared giving Kirney a glance from the corner of her eyes. "She's got spunk." She rose, straightened her dress and motioned the other two women to follow her. "Let's get started then."

Alina hurried to catch up. "What do we start with?"

Mesha smiled as she led them down the corridor. "First we're going to have our computer take a scan of you. That way we have your exact measurements and get a 3D model of your body so you can try out various styles of dresses without having to change all the time." She stopped a few meters beyond the lifts, pressed her palm against an inconspicuous section of the wall and stepped back to let a set of doors neither Kirney nor Alina had seen before swing open.

"What's that?" the redhead asked as she followed the Zeltron and her daughter into the room.

"It's a private booth for important customers," Mesha explained. "You can imagine that celebrities have this little problem with the vultures of the gutter press so we provide them with privacy for their shopping trips. We found it even necessary. You wouldn't believe the stunts paparazzis are willing to pull to get exclusive shots."

Remembering the tales Face Loran had told her of his own long-gone celebrity status she found herself nodding. "I can imagine."

Mesha looked at Alina and pointed at a door on the far side of the room. "That is the scanner booth. Go in there, strip to your underwear, step onto the scanner and simply follow the instructions. It won't take long."

After the door had closed behind Alina the Zeltron looked at Kirney. "It will take a few minutes, so let's sit down and talk."

Feigning confusion Kirney asked, "And what about?"

Mesha merely raised an eyebrow at her as she led her to the settee in the corner of the room. "I sense there is something else at work here."

Letting out a huff of mock annoyance Kirney muttered, "I forgot that you Zeltrons have some telepathic abilities. You're far too perceptive for my peace of mind."

Her friend merely grinned. "I know. And now spill it. What else is there that has you walking on eggshells around your daughter?"

Kirney grimaced but realized that there was no point in denying it any longer. "The breakup with her ex, and especially the callous way it happened, did hurt Alina a lot more than she lets on. It also put a serious dent into her self-confidence. She's trying to hide that," she explained and shrugged, "but I'm her mother. I can see such things."

The Zeltron seemed to have picked up some underlying vibes because her answer was the proverbial proton torpedo that hit the Death Star's exhaust port with uncanny accuracy. "So that is not only about getting back at that other girl and her ex, is it? It's also about rebuilding your daughter's self-confidence."

Kirney nodded. "Alina has always been a bit of a tomboy. When she was a kid she didn't want dolls or dresses, it was always about ship models, toy blasters or jumpsuits. She spent more time in the cockpit of our ships or the maintenance hangars than anywhere else." She paused, trying to sort her thoughts and shape them into words. "To make a long story short I have realized that she never showed much of her more feminine side, not to us and certainly not to other people. But then she hooked up with her ex-boyfriend and I was actually relieved because it showed me that she is not incapable of dealing with the opposite sex. Other than either just being _'one of the guys'_ or verbally eviscerating them, that is."

"And then he dropped her like a crumpled piece of flimsi," Mesha added with a grimace. "Not exactly helpful."

"No," Kirney agreed softly. "And now that she is facing opposition from a girl of her age who is so vastly different from her she is not sure how to deal with it. She gets that from her father, he's also not the best at figuring out emotional issues and has a tendency to lock all those troubling thoughts up within himself. I don't want her to get emotionally scarred by this episode so even though I feel a bit guilty for talking her into this I think she really needs to see for herself that she is a beautiful young woman."

"I take you telling her that she is pretty didn't do much, did it?"

The redhead shook her head. "Not really. It doesn't matter whether it's me, my husband, my father-in-law or my mother-in-law who's telling her that she's pretty because she thinks we're biased and would never tell her the opposite anyway. I mean, of course we're biased. We're her family." She sighed. "You've seen her reaction when you told her how pretty she is. She doesn't believe it, she doesn't allow herself to believe it because she lacks a reliable yardstick to classify those compliments."

Understanding dawned on the Zeltron's features. "So by putting her into a situation where the audience is not inherently biased in her favor you hope to give her the kind of feedback she needs to get back her bearings and self-confidence. That's risky, you know. It could backfire."

"It won't." Kirney's confident words were accompanied by a crooked smile. "I checked this girl's social media accounts. She's a cheap puppet, a wannabe beauty queen who spends more time on primping than studying and who is dependent on makeup to look anything but dull. The only things she cares about are attention and adulation, but in the beauty department she can't hold a glowstick to my daughter."

"Sneaky," Mesha chuckled.

"You know the secret of success in the logistics and transport business? Thorough research in advance, meticulous planning that takes real and potential factors into consideration and finally optimal allocation of the available resources to achieve the maximum," the redhead returned dryly. "It's not exactly witchcraft, you know?"

Mesha kept on grinning but refrained from answering as the door to the scanner booth swung open and Alina emerged still tugging at the hem of her tunic. "Scan is done," she announced and looked at the Zeltron curiously. "And now?"

The older woman smirked at her. "Now the fun part begins," she said and gestured at a computer terminal which powered up as they approached. "Time to check out the dress designs, my dear."

They spent the next hour experimenting with various styles, cloth, colors and accessories. At first Kirney noted that her daughter remained a little bit reserved but ultimately thawed in the face of Mesha's unbridled enthusiasm and expertise. And finally, after what had to have been dozens of different dresses, they found what they were looking for.

"This is it," Alina declared, her eyes bright.

The Zeltron's smile was full of satisfaction. "I agree. The boys in your class won't know what hit them and the other girls will turn green with envy."

Alina gave her mother a predatory smile and received one in return. "Phase one complete."


	4. Chapter 4

**One week later – the day of the ball**

The remainder of the week was spent alternating between the demands of everyday life and further practicing of Alina's role for the upcoming ball. Kirney was heartened to see that practice not only honed her daughter's acting but also bolstered her self-confidence. That didn't mean things were going smoothly all the time, far from it. Regardless how often she wore the high heels they had purchased on Coruscant Alina never stopped cursing the shoes, going even as far as labeling them 'Death of my Feet' or 'Emperor's late Revenge'. While she was happy to slip out of them after the training sessions and rest her feet in a bowl of warm scented water she was feeling confident enough to get through an entire evening wearing them.

Kirney was immensely proud of her daughter and had told her several times, especially after she had instructed her to uphold the 'Empress act' for an entire evening with her family and the result had surpassed even her wildest imagination.

Her husband had agreed, remarking that Alina had inherited her mother's acting ability and natural grace. Alina had smiled, her mother had smiled and pulled him over for a kiss … Which in turn made their son roll his eyes and cast a pleading glance at his grandparents asking them to make his parents stop this 'sappy romantic nonsense'. In the end Selan jr had stomped off in a huff when his grandfather had grinned wickedly and had pulled his own wife close for a kiss, the laughter of his family following the grumbling teenager up the stairs.

Three days before the ball a courier had delivered the dress encased in an anti-wrinkle cover that also hid the garment from prying eyes. There had been a brief argument between Kirney and her mother-in-law about the dress since Kirney had refused to let anyone take a look at it yet.

"A little patience, Jaleela," she'd said. "It's only a few days and I want you to see the end result, not an intermediate step."

Jaleela had not been pleased but in the end relented in the face of her daughter-in-law's arguments and her granddaughter's pleading looks.

When the morning of the ball dawned Kirney had sprung another surprise on her family – namely by loading her daughter and mother-in-law into her speeder, telling the three flabbergasted men in the family not to do any stupid stuff and eat the reheated remnants of yesterday's dinner for lunch while they were away to enjoy a few hours of being pampered and speeding off to the _Mount Shervan Resort & Spa.  
_Alina had been a little bit uneasy about going there, she wasn't one for cosmetics and the likes, but after the stint in the medium temperature sauna and the following massage – which involved heated pebbles being placed on her back – she decided that this was actually an enjoyable and relaxing way to spend the day before the ball. The diffuse feeling of wellbeing had even been strong enough not to be dented by the two-hour-long succession of face masks of various kinds, probably supported by being wrapped tightly into pre-warmed towels like a newborn baby, or the quick dips in hot or ice-cold basins followed by a full-body-peeling with some kind of lotion whose contents she did not really want to know. In the end she'd felt as if she could float back home without needing an airspeeder.

Of course the relaxation had ended upon getting back home. First her mother had sent her to the refresher for a shower and told her to leave her hair wet, then she'd been instructed to sit on the chair in front of her mother's vanity, the big mirrors covered with some kind of gauze.

Her mother had smiled at her unspoken question. "Relax and wait for the final result, okay?"

Alina had given her an uneasy smile but had not objected.

For the next hour or so two women whom Kirney had introduced as Reeta and Intara were buzzing around her like Corellian bees would around a field of blooming flowers, first doing something to her hair, then to her face … She felt helpless, almost like floating among the maelstroms of a wild river, felt herself being pulled from one side to the other as if being tossed around by an erratic current. Halfway through the procedures she'd closed her eyes, long after she'd lost any sense of time, her mind caught in a kind of trance, detached from reality by a curtain of gauzy fog. _Ball? What ball?_

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at whomever was trying to rouse her from her trance. She found herself face to face with her mother … and the realization that she, too, had put on makeup really snapped her out of it. "Mom?"

Kirney laughed lightly. "What? You think I wouldn't take advantage of Intara and Reeta being here, too? I may be more inclined towards practical stuff in everyday life, but even I do like to dress up once in a while. Besides …" Her expression became unmistakably sly.

Alina arched an eyebrow. "Besides you want a shot at getting Dad's heart rate up, right?"

Her mother's eyes widened into a patently false expression of innocence. "Of course not. I wouldn't want to mortify you, after all."

Her daughter let out another huff of exasperation and rolled her eyes. "I know you're a much better liar than this, Mom."

That earned her a knowing smile from her mother. "Of course. But I seem to remember you telling me that there are things about me and Myn that you don't want to know."

Alina sighed. "I walked right into that one, huh?"

"Yup."

Alina grimaced before turning to look at the gauze over the mirrors. "And now?"

"Close your eyes," Kirney said gently. "Humor me," she added when her daughter cast a skeptical glance at her.

Alina shrugged, closed her eyes and kept them closed even when she heard the soft rustle of the gauze being removed. She wondered what she was going to see …

"Okay, honey," her mother said quietly. "Open your eyes."

Alina did as told … and stared. The woman reflected by the mirror wasn't her, _couldn't_ be her, not in a million light years. Faces like that could be found on the cover of galactic holozines, not in a reflection of herself in a mirror. She hesitantly raised a hand to touch her cheek, to try and find out whether the hallucination would disappear upon touching it. She barely noticed the woman in the reflection mirroring her movement, she was too stupefied to register much, anyway.

Her mother's voice pierced the cocoon of disbelief. "Are you okay?" she asked with a touch of worry discoloring her tone.

Her daughter trained her look of wide-eyed disbelief on her mother. "That can't possibly be me! No way!"

"Why not?" Kirney's gaze was both pointed and yet gentle. She gestured at her daughter's reflection. "That's just a bit of color, pigments and a carrier medium, applied to conform to a certain cultural bias." She tapped Alina's breastbone with a finger. "Underneath you're still the same girl you've always been. Stop running yourself down, honey, because in the end, when all is said and done, there is only one thing that matters. And that is what's in here." She put her hand over her heart. "You're a good person, no matter how hard you try to keep everyone away with your acidic tongue. But that other girl? She's got an ugly soul and no matter what an ugly soul can never be totally masked by a nice exterior. At some point that ugliness deep inside will come out."

Alina pursed her lips. It made a lot of sense, it made a universe full of sense to be frank. "I just … I just didn't expect _this_ when I agreed to all of this here," she said gesturing at her reflection. "I just never believed …"

"… that you're pretty?"

Alina nodded.

Her mother rolled her eyes. "I know, honey. But do you remember when we went over Lessina Werten's holos? When I showed you what she looks like without all that makeup covering her face?"

"Yeah," her daughter returned. "She looked so … _ordinary_."

"That's because all those holostars are ordinary underneath it all. It's just the styling that turns them into something else." Kirney cast a glance at the chrono on the wall. "And now no more procrastinating. There is a classmate of yours who is in need of a lesson and I vividly remember you vowing to administer it. You still up for that?"

Alina looked up, a new fire blazing in her eyes. "You bet."

She gave her daughter's shoulder a supportive squeeze. "Then get dressed."

Another fifteen minutes later the remaining Donos family was assembled at the bottom of the stairway and was waiting for the two ladies to appear. Jaleela was still fiddling with the collar of her son's dark green tuxedo and the cream-colored shirt.

"Hold still," she admonished. "There's a wrinkle that doesn't belong there."

Myn caught her hands. "Stop it, Mom. It's fine as it is."

"But …"

Selan senior took her in his arms and pulled her away from their son. "Leave him be, Jaleela. He looks fine." Then he let out a chuckle. "You're just impatient for Alina to come down, aren't you?"

His grandson was looking at his grandmother in undisguised irritation. "Thank the maker I don't have to visit that ball. And why is everyone so nervous, anyway? My sister will wipe the floor with that bimbo regardless of what she's wearing."

Myn raised an eyebrow at that. "Watch it, junior. That almost sounded as if you liked your sister."

Indignation replaced irritation on Selan junior's face. "Hey now, let's not get carried away, Dad."

His namesake laughed at that. "Remember, in two years your participation in that ball will be mandatory as well," he reminded his grandson. "And that means wearing a tuxedo, too."

"Thanks for reminding me, Grandpa," the teenager sighed with a pained grimace.

Selan senior grinned at that. "Anytime, grandson mine. Anytime."

Tonin emitted a cadence of sounds followed by a staggeringly authentic approximation of a chuckle. Myn bent down to read the translation scrolling across the screen and choked off a laugh.

"You're right, Tonin." He threw his son a teasing glance. "He said not to forget about those dancing lessons you're going to get prior to that."

The teenager blanched. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Alina got them and you'll get them, too. I mean it's a _ball_. That means _dancing_." His grin widened. "That means it won't do for you to stand there and shuffle."

Selan junior directed a furious glare at his father and the astromech. "Do me a favor and warn me in advance. I want to break my legs."

Kolot chuckled at that. "That's what Alina said when Kirney told her about dance lessons."

Myn's son let out a growl of frustration that caused his father, his grandparents and Kolot to burst out laughing. "Can't I go to my room? I don't want to suffer this indignity."

"It's just a few more minutes, son," his father soothed. "We're just waiting for your Mom and sister to show up, then we'll be on our way."

"I wish they would hurry," Selan junior ground out and crossed his arms in a silent gesture of defiance.

Their banter was interrupted by the sound of a door opening in the upper story. They turned to look up the stairway and waited.

Kirney was the first to appear at the top, wearing the dark green dress she'd gotten from Mesha all those years ago. Myn's eyes lit up at the sight and his smile widened.

"Wow, Mom," her son said, a wild grin splitting his face. "You look nice."

"Why, thank you," she returned with a smile and a nod before moving to stand beside her husband.

Myn took her hand and squeezed it. "You're beautiful," he said quietly and kissed her, ignoring the huff of exasperation coming from their son. "Is Alina okay?"

Kirney's smile was that of a well-fed tusk cat. "See for yourself."

When Alina appeared at the top of the stairway there was a collective gasp of surprise. Already playing her assigned role she gave her family a regal nod and began to slowly descend the stairs.

"By the Force …" her grandmother muttered before she covered her mouth with a hand. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Is that really you? My little girl?"

"She's no longer a little girl," her husband remarked proudly. "She's now a young Lady."

Kolot, standing beside them, agreed. "Stunning."

Tonin, highly economical as always when attempting verbal communication, chirped what sounded like an admiring whistle and made a full rotation with his domed head.

Kirney was grinning from ear to ear and shot her husband a look from the corner of her eyes. Noting his jaw hanging down she elbowed him lightly and asked, "Aren't you going to say something, darling?"

That shook Myn out of his stupor. He patted his wife's hand before letting go of it, held out both hands to his daughter and grasped hers when she reached out for his. "I still remember a certain small grease-monkey rampaging through the maintenance hangar, her jumpsuit covered in starship lube and coolant fluid while she pretended to pilot an X-Wing by holding out both of her arms," he said, his voice thick with emotion. He let his eyes travel over the dark blue silk of her dress, clinging to her like a second skin and yet the skirt was falling light and airily and shook his head in disbelief. "But now I see a young woman here, a young Lady. You do look beautiful, just like your mother."

Alina blushed slightly. "Thanks, Dad."

"What's the matter?" her grandfather asked her brother who was gawking at Alina with undisguised stupefaction. "The Sarlacc got your tongue?"

The teenager shook himself, then narrowed his eyes at Alina and asked, "Who are you and what have you done to my sister?"

Her face retained the look of regal serenity while she flashed him a rude gesture.

"Okay, okay," her brother said and held up a placatory hand. "It's you, alright."

Casting a disapproving frown at her granddaughter Jaleela disentangled herself from her husband's embrace. "You better get going or you'll be late."

Myn darted a glance at his wrist chrono. "She's right." He drew himself up to his full height, took a step back and sketched a bow at both his wife and his daughter. "Ladies, would you allow me the honor to escort you two ravishing creatures to the ball?"

Kirney affected a regal air and took his proffered arm. "Why, of course, my dear."

His daughter simply rolled her eyes but took his other arm. Just when the three of them were about to step through the front door they heard Selan junior call out to Alina.

"Hey, sis."

Alina turned around and raised an eyebrow at her brother. "Yes?"

The teenager gave her a mischievous grin and held out his fist to her. "Knock 'em dead," he told her, his grin widening.

Mirroring his expression she touched her fist against his before following her parents to the waiting speeder.


	5. Chapter 5

**The final part of this story is upon us. While it may be the end of _this_ story that doesn't mean the end of the DonoSlane Excursions stories. There are already ideas for further parts ...**

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The next day started closer to noon than morning for the three of them as they'd returned long past midnight. After a quick shower, Myn didn't bother to shave as it was Sunday and he didn't have any appointments, he threw on a pair of old comfortable pants and a baggy sweatshirt and headed downstairs for a cup of caf. He wouldn't have minded sleeping even longer, but Kirney had basically thrown him out of the bed. Sometimes her sobriety was mightily annoying. As he wandered into the kitchen he found Kolot sitting at the table, a cup of caf in front of him, reading something on a datapad.

"Morn'g," he mumbled and picked up the thermos jug to pour himself a cup, adding milk and sweetener before sitting down on the other side of the table.

The Ewok looked up from whatever he was reading and Myn knew he was in for teasing. The twinkle in those strange black eyes told him as much. "Energetic night?" Kolot asked mock innocently.

Fighting the blush that threatened to heat his cheeks the Corellian merely raised an eyebrow.

The Ewok chuckled wickedly. "Walls thick, but not soundproof."

Donos rolled his eyes but refrained from answering when his mother came into the kitchen. "Good morning, son," she greeted and took a moment to study him. Noting the dark rings under his eyes she smirked and asked just as mock innocently as Kolot had mere moments ago, "Energetic night?"

As her son shot her a glare Kolot picked up his datapad to hide a grin behind. "We came back _late_ ," Myn said with a note of exasperation, emphasizing the last word in particular.

"Sure," the Ewok returned sarcastically and dropped the datapad. Giving Myn a knowing but obviously smug smile he added, "We all know what happens when Kirney wearing _that_ dress."

Jaleela turned away and busied herself in the contents of the sink, but the shake of her shoulders revealed her silent laughter.

There was no way for Myn not to flush crimson at this point and he let out a sigh of vexation before picking up his cup to take a sip.

"Where's Kirney?" his mother asked without turning around, her voice suspiciously nonchalant.

"In the shower," he responded casually, then let out the yawn that had been building for a while and stretched.

"Energetic nights will do that to you," Kolot returned offhandedly.

Myn ignored him. "Where's Dad?"

"Outside," Jaleela said. "I told him to exterminate the weeds growing in the fruit and vegetable garden."

A snort from the direction of the antechamber throttled Myn's attempted answer. "I bet Grandfather was thrilled," Alina said as she sauntered into the kitchen followed by her mother. "Morning."

"Morning, you two." Jaleela smiled at them. "How did it go?"

Mother and daughter exchanged a look and turned back to their family with the broad smiles of sated predators who had just feasted upon their favorite prey.

"I'd say it was a raving success," Kirney answered as she helped herself to a cup of the dark brew. "You should have seen Alina coming into the ball room. There must have been dozens of jaws littering the floor." She directed a warm smile full of pride at her daughter. "For that one evening she really was an Empress."

Myn chuckled at that. "Yeah and I saw at least one girl punching her date for gawking at her."

Jaleela gave her granddaughter a bittersweet smile. "I wish I could have seen that," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

"Then get over here," the voice of Selan junior called from the living room.

There was a brief stunned silence, an exchange of curious glances before the five of them moved into the bigger room next door. "What was that, junior?" Kirney asked her son who was sitting in front of the holoprojector.

Selan junior wore a smug grin. "Just giving Grandma what she wants," he said cryptically and stabbed the remote at the projector. It came to life with a gentle hum, the holo appearing above its projector lens showing the garishly decorated school coliseum in which last night's ball had been held.

Alina let out a growl of disbelief. "They holoed that and put it online?"

Her brother shook her head. "No, this was uploaded to the school's internal holosite."

"Some difference," she muttered and dropped into an armchair.

"Shush," Selan shot back and started the recording. First thing they noted was the awkward angle of the camera and the slight constant motion. Obviously the recording had been made with a primitive handheld recorder and the person wielding it had switched off the auto stabilization for some reason. The holo showed a mass of couples dancing, most of which were parents of students or teachers but here and there they spied the awkward movements of younger couples. Selan had turned down the volume of the audio channel because of the ear-splitting buzz the dozens of attendants and the orchestra created but now he upped the volume again by a few notches.

"Here she comes," Myn said with a smile.

Alina appeared in the double door that had been locked wide open and served as main entrance to the coliseum. As if choreographed the orchestra, which had been playing a classic Coruscanti Waltz, struck the tunes of the music's most majestic segment and the cam immediately swung back to center on the young woman in her blue silk dress. The cam's operator zoomed in a hair and suddenly the slight shaking stopped.  
The recording showed Alina holding her head high, her gaze scanning the mass of people until she seemed to have found what she'd been looking for. She moved forward, unperturbed by the crowd around her, her bearing regal as she returned the greeting nods of various people, sauntering across the floor with the air of a noblewoman. The camera caught looks of utter surprise, astonishment and admiration as she moved along the edge of the dancefloor, some of the men and boys staring at her with open mouths. The recording suddenly ended and Selan switched off the projector.

"Wow." Jaleela eyed her granddaughter with pride. "That was some entrance."

Her grandson laughed. "Most watched holo recording of that evening, most discussed topic on the message boards." He threw his sister a smug grin. "You turned a lot of heads, sis."

The raven-haired girl sat up in her chair. "Most watched recording?"

Her brother's grin was all teeth. "Over nine hundred viewers since it was uploaded about ten hours ago," he informed her. "Want to know how many viewers the holo of the crowning of the Ball Queen got? Fifteen, that includes yours truly because I wanted to see how _What's-her-name?_ has taken it."

"She was mightily ticked off from the moment Alina entered the coliseum," Kirney snickered. "She was seething the whole time."

"Yeah. I struggled with the insolent grin I wanted to toss her way so badly," her daughter chimed in. "But that would have exceeded my mission parameters. Too bad, though. I'd have loved to see her flip out at that."

"Sounds like utter home win," Kolot summarized and rubbed his paws in silent glee.

"Oh, it was much, _much_ more successful than we could have ever anticipated," Alina said nonchalantly, an evil glint in her eyes. "You see, we achieved two bonus objectives we hadn't even considered possible."

Her grandmother exchanged a glance with her grandson but only received a shrug in return. "Care to enlighten us?"

Alina and her parents looked at each other for a moment, then laughed out loud. It was not humorous laughter, partially it probably was but most of it seemed to be made up of malicious joy. "Denellia and Otis had a _very_ public and _very_ noisy falling out," she finally explained.

Her mother grinned. "The entire coliseum could hear them screaming at each other. I had to bite my tongue to keep me from laughing out loud when Otis threw an enraged _'vindictive bicce'_ at her, she slapped him and he stormed off." She winked at her daughter. "An ugly soul comes to the fore sooner or later."

Selan's eyebrows shot up towards the hairline. "You mean your _sleemo_ -ex is now her ex as well? _Ouch_ , that's gotta sting that overinflated ego of hers."

"Oh yes," Alina chuckled wickedly. "But that wasn't the only public falling out Denellia was involved in. After that little scene she tried to take out her frustration on her so-called friends and then things got really ugly. At some point she and her supposedly 'best friend' Sena Aldera were trying to claw out each other's eyes and had to be physically separated. She even screamed at the Headmistress in her fit of rage and was sent off for that."

Selan's jaw dropped. "You mean her clique has fallen apart over this as well?"

"Looks like it."

Myn flung an arm around his wife and pulled her closer. "And to think this only took a single dress, a pair of shoes, some makeup, a bit of coaching and some acting ability. The Wraiths would be so proud."

Kirney cast a merry glance at him from the corner of her eyes, then she focused her attention on her daughter. "And now, honey? Back to black pants and oversized T-Shirts?"

Alina, still lounging in the armchair, began twirling some strands of her raven hair and shot her an indecipherable look. "Oh, I don't know, Mom," she said with a straight face. "It was an educational experience for me. I think I'll go on experimenting a bit."

Her mother raised an eyebrow at her with an expression that could only be termed suspicious. "Such as?"

Her daughter shrugged, attempting to appropriate a look of innocence but not quite succeeding. Instead there was something approaching slyness flickering across her features. "I'm not sure, yet. Maybe I'll try out those skin-tight black leather pants and the matching jacket you showed me on Coruscant. And maybe one of those form-fitting tops that leave the navel bare?"

Myn's face lost all color, Kolot turned away with a coughing fit that was supposed to mask his laughter, Jaleela ducked out of the living room laughing so hard her body was shaking and Selan glowered at his mother. "You," he declared thrusting his finger accusingly in her direction, "have created a monster."

 **The End (for now)**


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